Which to use
“fiend” is a noun and “fiery” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,384
- “fiend” frequency rank
- #13,515
- “fiery” frequency rank
- 38899
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fiend | fiery |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit. | Of or relating to fire. |
Where the eye mixes fiend and fiery
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fiend (CVVCC) and fiery (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses fiend with fiery
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fiend is /fiːnd/ while fiery is /ˈfaɪəɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fiend is recorded at frequency rank #25,384, classified as anoun, pronounced /fiːnd/. fiery is at rank #13,515, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfaɪəɹi/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 38899, this pair ranks #281,702 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fiend vs fiery
Shared letters: efi. Private to "fiend": dn. Private to "fiery": ry.
"fiend" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "fiery" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fiend" and "fiery" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fiend" vs "fiery" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fiend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fiery" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #281,702 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fiend" and "fiery" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fenn vs fiend". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #281,702 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.